Several people have been injured after a car reportedly ploughed into people outside London'sNatural History Museum.

Scotland Yard said that "a number of pedestrians have been injured" in an incident in Exhibition Road in South Kensington shortly after 2.20pm.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "Officers are on scene, and the London Ambulance Service have been called.

"A man has been arrested at the scene."

Pictures and footage from the scene showed street damage and a massive police presence in the capital's museum district, home to the NHM, the Science Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The area is a magnet for tourists, including lots of children.

Afra Wang posted a picture of emergency services on Twitter, writing: "A crime scene? Full armed police locked the whole area out outside of @V_and_A in London. The helicopter above us doesn't seem to leave."

Video footage on Twitter showed a man being restrained on the ground in the middle of Exhibition Road.

None of the four people around him are in uniform.

Behind them is a black Toyota car with its driver's door open, which appears to have collided with a silver Vauxhall saloon.

The Natural History Museum tweeted: "There's been a serious incident outside the Museum. We are working w/ @metpoliceuk and will provide an update when we have more information."

Rachael Venables is LBC's reporter on Exhibition Road.

Joseph & Annie were in a cafe on Exhibition Rd when the car crashed outside. Forced into the basement, they 'thought it was a shooter' @LBCpic.twitter.com/GrQFWEWXv3

An eyewitness at the scene said: "We were walking near the Science Museum and heard a bang, bang... at first I thought it was gunfire.

"Then we walked past the scene of the accident and saw a guy pinned down by other men and lots of people calling the police.

"There didn't appear to be many people hurt - a few sat by the side of the road but more looking shaken than anything.

"We were then ushered into the Science Museum and the area was quickly cleared of pedestrians."

Workers in a cafe close the incident told how people fled the scene in a panic as police evacuated the area.

Merilin Mueller, 20, said: "It just seemed like an accident because there was a police car. We couldn't see outside.

"Then there were loads of police cars and that's when all of these police came marching down saying, 'move, move'.

"They said, 'you need to evacuate'."

Her colleague at Brown and Rosie, Kayla Spark, 23, said: "They came into the shop really aggressively."

She added: "Someone outside said they heard what sounded like gunshots, but I think it was just the car colliding."

Dieon Rurora, 25, who also works in the cafe, said: "People were running down the street, falling over. It was quite scary."

He said he believed the car involved in the collision was a grey saloon, which is now boxed in behind four police cars, although he did not see the collision.

Enamul Hoque was in a nearby Chinese restaurant when events unfolded.

He told Sky News he saw people running in Exhibition Road, adding: "Then all of a sudden ... a large gathering of policemen turned up in yellow vests, just clearing up the road (telling) people to leave the restaurant, leave bags behind.

Download the app

Follow Us

Your privacy is important to us. We want to better help you understand how and why we use your data.
You’ll continue to enjoy LBC and all of its great content and features! View our Privacy Statement for more details.